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The Candidates

Jerry Brown (D), Attorney General (2007-2010), Mayor, Oakland, CA (1999-2007)

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., known as Jerry, was born in San Francisco on April 7, 1938. He attended both public and parochial schools, graduating from St. Ignatius High School in 1955. He completed his freshman year at the University of Santa Clara before entering Sacred Heart Novitiate, a Jesuit seminary in August 1956. Two years later, he took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1960, he left the Society of Jesus and enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley. He received his B.A. degree in Classics the next year and then entered Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1964.

Brown was elected governor in 1974 and reelected in 1978 by more than one million votes. Brown appointed more women, Asians, Latinos and African-Americans to high government positions than any other chief executive. He also created the nation's first Wellness Commission, the Office of Appropriate Technology, the Native American Heritage Preservation Commission, and the California Commission on Industrial Innovation. As president of the University of California Regents, Brown successfully sponsored the establishment of the prestigious Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Brown legalized the practice of acupuncture and strongly supported the rights of chiropractors, osteopaths, and lay midwives. He also significantly expanded apprenticeship programs and created the California Worksite Education and Training Act (CWETA). He mandated every high school district to establish clear graduation standards and successfully fought for increased math and science requirements for both the California State University and University of California systems.